Happy hour is a marketing term for a time when a venue such as a restaurant or bar offers reduced prices on alcoholic drinks.
[citation needed] One possible origin of the term "happy hour," in the sense of a scheduled period of entertainment, is from the United States Navy.
The Random House Dictionary of American Slang dates "Happy hour," as a term for afternoon drinks in a bar, to a Saturday Evening Post article on military life in 1959.
"[3][5] Barry Popick's online etymology dictionary The Big Apple lists several pre-1959 citations to "Happy Hour" in print, mostly from places near naval bases in California, from as early as 1951.
[12] The National Mandatory Licensing Conditions introduced in 2010 required licensees to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent irresponsible drinks promotions which effectively banned traditional happy hours.
The reason for each ban varies, but include to prevent drunk driving, to avoid the nuisance to neighbors from loud crowds and public drunkenness, and to discourage unhealthy consumption of a large amount of alcohol in a short time.
[19] As of July 2015[update], happy hour bans existed in Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont.
[20] By extension, certain file-hosting websites such as RapidShare and Megaupload use the term "happy hour" to designate periods during which users have complimentary access to certain premium features, such as increased bandwidth, elimination of queues, and bypassing of CAPTCHA verifications.